1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus of preventing a message input error in a mobile communication terminal, and particularly to a method of preventing a transmitting message input error generated by other events (e.g., call reception, schedule alarm and message reception) in the mobile communication terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Mobile communication terminals are widely used due to their convenient portability and mobility. Manufacturers continue to develop mobile communication terminals having more convenient functions in an effort to secure more users. For example, the mobile communication terminals provide various additional functions such as a phone book function, a game function, a short message function, an internet function, an e-mail function, a morning call function, a MPEG Layer3 function, a digital camera function, etc.
In particular, the “short message” function becomes a popular additional function in mobile communication terminal. There is a tendency that young people prefer the “short message” function to the call communication function. Also, the short message function is becoming more widely used by middle-aged and older people.
As described above, along with increasing the use of the short message function, technologies to keep input of the message secure without errors due to other events are being studied.
FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of checking a reception message while a transmitting message is being inputted in a conventional mobile communication terminal. Referring to FIG. 1, a Micro-Processor Unit (MPU) of the mobile communication terminal recognizes a transmitting message input by a user's key manipulation. The MPU proceeds to step 103 to check whether a reception message is received.
If the reception message is received, the MPU proceeds to step 105 to display the reception message by using a popup window over an input window of the transmitting message. When displayed the reception message popup window, the MPU proceeds to step 107 to check whether a predetermined key (e.g. a MENU key, an ENTER key, a CANCEL key, one of 3*4 keys, etc. is input.
If the predetermined key is input, the MPU proceeds to step 109 to close the reception message popup window and displays the message input window. After this, the MPU proceeds to step 111 to input the transmitting message.
As described above, if a reception message is received while a transmitting message is being input, the mobile communication terminal displays the reception message by using a popup window. Hereinafter, when a predetermined key (e.g. a MENU key, an ENTER key, a CANCEL key, one of 3*4 keys, etc.) is further input, it recognizes that the reception message is identified and the reception message popup window is closed.
Here, if one of the 3*4 keys is pressed to continue inputting the transmitting message, a first key input is sometimes confusingly recognized not as a reception message identification input but as an input for transmitting a message by the user. Thus, there may be errors in transmitting message input.
Also, if a user does not recognize that another event has been generated while a transmitting message is being inputted, the MPU recognizes that the generated event has been identified by the predetermined key input. Thus, the user may not recognize the event.